Pope’s Vision for International Law for Peace At Odds With United Nations

VATICAN, July 18, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The theme chosen by Pope John Paul for the January 1, 2004 World Day of Peace is “International Law, A Path for Peace.”  A Vatican communiqué released yesterday afternoon says that the theme “hopes to underline the importance of law as a guarantee of international relations aimed at promoting peace among nations.”  On January 13, 1997, in his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, Pope John Paul expressed his conviction that “International law has been for some time a law of war and peace. I believe it is called ever more to become exclusively a law of peace conceived as a function of justice and solidarity.”  However, the peace desired by the Pope differs greatly from the shallow notion of peace heralded by the United Nations.  The Pope subscribes to the same view of peace as espoused by Mother Teresa. In 1994 Mother Teresa spoke to the assembled US politicians saying: “But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself.”  Pope John Paul II, who chose the October 19, 2003 25th anniversary of his pontificate to declare Mother Teresa a saint, echoed Mother Teresa in May of this year saying, “there can be no authentic peace without respect for life, especially for the innocent and defenseless, as are unborn children. Basic coherence requires that those who seek peace defend life. No action for peace can be effective if attacks on life at every stage are not opposed with the same effort.”  The Pope’s vision for peace was outlined in the current communiqué as it said the basic principles behind the Pope’s conviction on international law “are the same that inspire the Church’s commitment in favor of peace: equality in dignity for every human person and every human community, the unity of the human family, the primacy of law over force.”  See related LifeSite coverage:  Pope Says Pro-Life Movement Is A Peace Movement: No Peace Without Respect for Life https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/may/03052203.html POPE BLASTS ABORTION AT US PRAYER BREAKFAST WASHINGTON https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/feb/00020403.html